The Junta de Andalucía has demanded this Monday a special tax regime for Campo de Gibraltar, similar to that of the Canary Islands or Ceuta and Melilla, to avoid the dumping fiscal once the agreement that regulates relations between the British colony and the EU comes into force. This has been requested by the Andalusian Presidency Minister, Antonio Sanz, after participating in a meeting at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with Minister José Manuel Albares and the mayors of Campo de Gibraltar.
Sanz has alleged that, when the free circulation of goods provided for in the agreement that is being finalized is implemented, companies in the Cadiz region neighboring the Rock will find themselves in inferior conditions compared to Gibraltarian companies, which only pay 10%. of corporate tax compared to the 25% in force on this side of the fence. The mayor of Algeciras, José Ignacio Landaluce, also from the PP, has stressed that the port of Gibraltar is exempt from the taxes paid by its European counterparts, which represents unfair competition. Albares has assured that negotiators are working to achieve greater “fiscal harmonization”, but has not commented on a special statute that is the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance.
The Andalusian counselor has also requested that the Andalusian Government be present in the three-way negotiations between the United Kingdom, the European Commission and Spain, recalling that some of the issues being debated are of regional competence. “It is difficult to understand that Gibraltar is present and the Junta de Andalucía is not,” he said, alluding to the presence of the Gibraltar chief minister, Fabian Picardo, in the British delegation. Albares insists that foreign policy corresponds exclusively to the central government, but remembers that he is in direct communication with the Andalusian president, Juan Manuel Moreno, of the PP, with whom he spoke last Wednesday to inform him of the progress of the negotiations.
Both Sanz and Albares have insisted on highlighting the “institutional loyalty” that the different administrations must maintain in the face of a negotiation that affects the lives of the almost 300,000 residents of Campo de Gibraltar and the “unique opportunity” that has been opened to reach an agreement that results in the economic development of the entire region, but the former has warned that this should not be reached “at any price” and has complained that the information received has been “superficial and incomplete.” Diplomatic sources allege that any leak can be used by the most Europhobic sectors of the British Conservative Party to torpedo the negotiation, as has already been seen in the recent past.
The minister has assured that the agreement being negotiated with the United Kingdom “guarantees the rights of around 15,000 cross-border workers, more than 50% of Gibraltar’s workforce, not only current but also future ones.” He was referring to the fact that Spaniards who have worked on the Rock currently receive lower pensions than Gibraltarians, a discrimination that they want to end.
What affects the most is what happens closest. So you don’t miss anything, subscribe.
Subscribe
The head of Spanish diplomacy has also assumed that the future agreement will include the joint use of the airport built on the Peñón isthmus and, although he has not offered details about the legal regime to which it will be subject, he has assumed that they will resume flights with Madrid or Barcelona, as there were between 2009 and 2011.
Albares has been optimistic about the possibility of reaching an agreement soon that would entail the complete demolition of the Gate, but has warned that it is a negotiation of “enormous complexity” in which there are many ministries involved and he has not wanted to compromise. a date for its completion. He has stressed that Spain does not renounce in any case its claim to the sovereignty of the British colony.
The meeting was attended, in addition to the councilor of the Board, by the mayors of San Roque, Algeciras, La Línea, Jimena de la Frontera, Quintanar de la Frontera, Los Barrios and San Martín del Tesorillo, as well as the deputy mayor of Tarifa and the presidents of the Commonwealth of Municipalities and the Provincial Council of Cádiz. Next, the minister met with representatives of civil society in Campo de Gibraltar (heads of the Chamber of Commerce, unions, employers, the port authority or the university campus) to inform them about the progress of the negotiations.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
_
#Board #requests #special #tax #regime #Campo #Gibraltar #avoid #dumping #Brexit